DoH in consumer lifestyle bid

Those already signed up to 'Small Change Big Difference' include the British Heart Foundation, Sainsbury's and Unilever. The charities, retailers and manufacturers will promote the initiative via their own activity, such as Boots' 'change one thing' campaign.

The initiative is based on research into the lifestyle choices of British people.

'All former significant research on such behaviour has come from the US, but this research sampled 30,000 people in the UK over ten years,' said a DoH spokeswoman.

The department is urging the public to make small lifestyle changes, such as taking up moderate physical activity and drinking more water. 'One small change can turn the clock back,' the spokeswoman explained.

The campaign is being targeted at national, regional, trade and consumer press, as well as broadcasters.

It kicked off with an event at Number 10 last week, featuring a focus group of consumer journalists and selected readers. 'It was an opportunity to talk about the initiative and [ask the group] how they thought they might make lifestyle changes,' the spokeswoman said. The DoH is using findings from the event to develop the campaign. Matt Tee is the department's interim director of comms (PRWeek, 28 April).